Oct
The term “White Hat SEO” has long been known as an orthodox SEO method, for those who want to develop sustainably, safely, and not be penalized by Google.
However, this leads to a common belief of SEOers who choose the White hat’s side:
Can you fight the Black hat and still not break the rules?
Of course, you can. At least in most fields (unfortunately there are some industries that are particularly difficult to white hat. For example Real Estate, …)
Choosing according to white hat or black hat is still an eternally controversial issue in the SEO community because each school has its own advantages and disadvantages. Depending on the field you are doing SEO, there are suitable options.
If you are an experienced Black hat SEOer, don’t get mad because I fully support White hat. In the case of the Share Tool, we advise clients of the legal industry that the website needs to be safe and sustainable. so they can’t risk using the black hat strategy.
In this article, I will introduce you to some effective White Hat tactics that can replace black hat SEO. At the same time, I will also explain why choosing the White hat SEO method is better!
White Hat SEO vs Black Hat SEO
All SEO (Search Engine Optimization) activities are for a single purpose: Increase website rankings on search engines.
In SEO, it is divided into two factions: white hat and black hat.
So what is the difference between these two sides?
Let me explain to you…
What is White Hat SEO?
White Hat SEO is the method that is encouraged by Google, as opposed to black hat SEO. White hat SEO applies tactics and website optimization techniques recognized by Google to give users and search engines a fair and appropriate result.
If you do white hat SEO, you will:
- Play by Google’s rules (written quite clearly in this article)
- Optimize for the user, not to beat the search engine
- Create quality content that people actually want to read and share
- Create a website that stands out, better than the competition in the industry
Meanwhile, Black hat is the complete opposite…
What is Black Hat SEO?
Black hat SEO uses tactics and techniques that do not require compliance with Google’s laws. Frankly, it’s sometimes unethical to get the results you want (like better rankings, for example).
And Black hat focuses on finding and detecting the loopholes of the algorithm.
Note: Black hat SEO doesn’t always leave the user uninterested or something evil. Simply because there are algorithmic vulnerabilities that do no harm to anyone. But many black hat tactics can be unethical (for example, hacking into websites to pump backlinks).
Doing black hat SEO, you will:
- Violating (or at least trying to circumvent) Google’s laws
- Interested in search engines rather than users
- Deceive users with tricks like cloaking or doorway pages
- Hack into someone else’s website.
Doorway Pages: Spam SEO tricks that redirect users directly to new websites, different from the one they originally wanted to visit.
Cloaking: Trick to hide content.
I’m not taking an ethical stance when it comes to black hat SEO. As this can lead to many unwanted controversies. But I can say that black hat SEO is very risky.
Therefore, I have never and never agreed to the use of black hat SEO. I follow the white hat but sometimes a little Gray Hat (Gray Hat SEO) doesn’t matter.
This article will show you why white hat SEO is better than black hat SEO.
See also: Onpage SEO guide with the latest standards
But first you need to understand: Is white hat really right for your business?
Is white hat SEO always the best choice?
It depends on your goals and business.
If your goal is to build a long-term brand, go for the white hat.
But if you work in hot lending, white hat doesn’t seem appropriate. Then black/grey hat SEO will be better for these areas.
And no matter how much you support the white hat, the truth is that playing by the rules in industries that require speed to the top has no way to win.
Of course, when you start out, you can use white hat, but when you have some success, your opponent will force you to play by black hat SEO rules.
But if you are running legitimate projects in legitimate industries then you can absolutely win without resorting to black hat.
Reasons not to use black hat
I started noticing some black hat SEOs incorporating white hat into their practice. And here’s why:
Black hat SEO is more expensive than before
Google is getting smarter by the day. Low-investment spamming methods like keyword stuffing are no longer effective. According to the black hat, your only option is to adopt expensive ways like building a PBN.
Therefore, when calculating the cost of buying expired domain, dedicated hosting, private whois … black hat SEO is fast but expensive.
Black hat SEO is VERY risky.
No one doing SEO wants to be penalized by Google. If you follow black hat SEO, the risk of being penalized is very high.
Black hat SEO requires more technology knowledge
With black hat SEO, you can’t do anything without understanding how your website works; and apply that knowledge effectively. Most of this knowledge is not shared publicly online; So many people think that black hat SEO is difficult to approach and implement.
Building a good website vs. Create dozens of sketchy pages
Black hats often create dozens of websites at once; to see which of them increase, which decrease in rank; then invest time, effort and resources into potential sites.
The process of automating/outsourcing this is also quite simple.
- Keyword research
- Hire a cheap SEO copywriter team to write articles
- Set up multiple WordPress sites automatically
- Upload all content to pages with a simple operation
Note:
Not all automated outsourced websites are this bad. Some black hat SEOs invest more than others. Black hat doesn’t focus on UI/UX because most users won’t come back. And I can’t deny it was a wise move.
You can create a series of websites with the same amount of time as other people invest in a website. From there, the investment of time and money into each page is almost minimal!
However, understanding the operating principle of Black Hat SEO in terms of creating this series of automated pages is not easy.
So if you are not really “enthusiastic” with black hat SEO; I advise you not to use it. Especially when you already know the benefits of white hat.
For example, users will of course like a website with quality content. Right?
If you want to set up many websites in limited time and effort; there’s no way that website has quality! That’s why 9/10 such pages fail miserably. And only one of them survived.
In general, these sites will be surpassed by other quality sites.
Why?
Because if a user likes a website, it will be reflected through “engagement signals” (factors like bounce time, dwell time, …)
And how about White Hat?
Create a website and spend time and effort investing in UI/UX.
Factors that make up White Hat SEO
Keyword research/Keyword analysis
While this can be time-consuming, it is important and can provide insights into your targeted audience. Keyword research and analysis helps you determine what keywords your target audience is searching for when they type their search into Google or any other search engine. Ranking for the right keywords is a major factor in determining where your website ranks in search engines. Having the right keywords can often make or break your website.
Backlinks
This tactic refers to backlinks from websites… back to your website. The more backlinks a website has, the more popular it is with search engines; thus boosting your SEO strategy. Backlinks improve link popularity and visibility.
Content
The process of creating quality, interesting content for users to visit the website. Website richer in content; the more valuable it is to appear on Google and other search engines.
The majority of SEO marketers focus on White Hat SEO as a means to drive traffic to their website and ultimately increase ROI. White Hat SEO has been known to be a proven strategy and is used mainly by marketers who want to make a long-term investment in an SEO strategy.
White Hat SEO requires more work and effort than Black Hat SEO; but the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term costs.
3 Main Features of SEO White Hat
- Brand focus: Color. Font. Style. All build a website/brand that people remember.
If people remember your website, they will click your page when they see it on the SERP; thereby helping to increase the interaction index on the web. - Make sure the interface is mobile-friendly: Auto-generated websites can also be responsive and usable on mobile devices. But that doesn’t mean the UX on these pages is good. Take the time to improve your website visually; user experience as well as working well on mobile.
- Use space effectively: No one likes cluttered structure. Space plays an important role in dividing the elements of the website; while increasing readability, interactivity and many other benefits.
If you’re not convinced enough, think:
There’s no way a high-quality website shouldn’t be successful.
In this particular case, we are talking about “blue ocean strategy” where you create a whole new idea to eliminate competition rather than explore already saturated industries.
Conclusion
You can:
- Create 10 superficial websites and see which ones survive (black hat)
- Come up with an idea and invest until it succeeds (white hat)
But this is the truth:
You can’t create dozens of websites by white hat, at least in a short period of time.
Personally, I think the best strategy is to reconcile the two sides.
I don’t encourage you to follow black hat SEO that constantly creates dozens of low-quality websites. But I also don’t want you to put all your eggs in the same basket for white hat SEO.
If you have some good ideas, you can create multiple pages. But make sure you can invest enough time and effort into each website.
Remember:
The less effort you put into a page, the lower your chances of success will be!
